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Donald Kaberuka

Oliver Kazunga Senior Business Reporter
The African Development Bank (AfDB) says Donald Kaberuka has stepped down as the institution’s president after 10 years of service.

AfDB said Kaberuka has been succeeded by Nigeria’s former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Akinwumi Adesina who was sworn in yesterday.

It said August 31 was Kaberuka’s last day in office at AfDB.

Speaking to the bank’s staff last Friday, Kaberuka was quoted as saying, “I was optimistic then, and I’m optimistic now: I leave the bank as confident as ever about where Africa is heading. Presidents come and go, but the bank stays. Africa needs a strong AfDB and we’ve an AfDB that gets stronger by the day.

“In all of our challenges, we’ve always been sure of the cause we were fighting for which is the economic transformation of this continent. I’ve fought the fight, finished the race, and kept the faith. Whatever I do now, I know that it’ll be about Africa, for Africa, and most likely in Africa.”

Speaking at the same occasion, the Africa Union Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma thanked Kaberuka for the contribution he made at the financial institution during his term as the bank’s president.

“We bid our brother Donald farewell from the bank, but not from the continent. I thank him for his wisdom, support, encouragement. I thank him for being who he is, in loving and respecting himself first, so he could love and respect his colleagues and the people of this continent.”

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa executive secretary Carlos Lopez added: “What this continent needs is leadership and determination. Leadership and determination: that’s what Donald (Kaberuka) is all about. Are we African lions? Lions are lazy! Cheetahs are the fastest animals on the planet — when they go for something, they are 100 percent sure that they want it. I know a man who is a cheetah: Donald Kaberuka.”

AfDB praised Kaberuka for presiding over a major redirection in the bank’s strategy for development and poverty reduction in Africa.

It said in his 10 years of service, he focused on private sector, and the importance of infrastructure development and its role in promoting regional integration on the continent.